JetHawks: HOF Vasquez seizes chance at being manager
By ALONSO TACANGA
April 6, 2016
LANCASTER - Ramon Vazquez's offseason was a whirlwind.
After a week off following the JetHawks' elimination in the Cal League South Division Mini-Series against High Desert in September, Vazquez managed in instructional league for two weeks, came back to California for seven days and then flew out to Puerto Rico to be a coach in winter ball.
After that ended in early February, the former JetHawks player took off for spring training, which officially ended on Sunday.
"I haven't had much time off," Vazquez said on Tuesday during JetHawks' media day. "That was the whole offseason for me."
Somewhere under the tropical clouds of his native Puerto Rico, however, the mayhem offered him a moment he did not see coming just yet.
Named a JetHawks Hall of Famer last season, the 39-year-old Vazquez became the manager of the club he played for 18 years ago, replacing first-year manager Omar Lopez.
"Things are going faster than I thought, but this is definitely something I wanted to do," said Vazquez, who served as the JetHawks' infield coach last season. "I would say everything is catching up real quick. I wasn't expecting to be here this fast."
In search of a promotion that fit his resume, Vazquez was offered the Class A-Advanced job after he became the interim manager of his struggling winter league team, the "Santurce Cangrejeros," and took them all the way to a championship.
For Vazquez, whose wife Griselda is a former JetHawks cheerleader, it was a surreal step up in the Houston Astros' organization.
"I was definitely expecting to be here at some point, at some league, a different organization or whatever team," Vazquez said. "But this was my plan the whole time and I'm just happy that it's happening pretty fast."
Vazquez played 121 games in Lancaster in the JetHawks' third season, in 1998. He reached the major leagues in 2001 with the Mariners and played for six different organizations in nine big-league seasons.
For the hall of famer to become the JetHawks' skipper, Lopez was asked to move back to Quad Cities to take over the River Bandits (Class A), a team he managed in 2014, and 2015 Bandits manager Josh Bonifay was sent to Greeneville (Rookie level).
The shuffling only spoke volumes of how much the Astros wanted Vazquez in charge in Lancaster in 2016.
"He knows the game inside out and picks up on a lot of tendencies from hitters and pitchers, so he feeds us a lot of information to help us become the best baseball players that we can be," said JetHawks infielder Marc Wik, who was coached by Vazquez for the entire 2015 season.
Vazquez, who is joined by eighth-year hitting coach Darryl Robinson and new pitching coach Mike Burns, inherits a team with seven players who finished 2015 in Lancaster and that doesn't have quite as many big names as the JetHawks of last season did to start the year.
Right-handed pitcher Akeem Bostick, who will start the season opener on Thursday in San Jose, is ranked 29th overall in the Astros' prospect watch by MLBPipeline.com and right-handed reliever Riley Ferrell is ranked 20th.
They, along with 25 other JetHawks, are in Lancaster to make a name for themselves and move up in the minor league system, just like Vazquez did.
"Like you said, it's not much about winning here," Vazquez said. "We're just trying to get them better to get them the hell out of here, so the quicker they get better, the quicker they move.
"It's how you teach. At times you can't think much about winning. You got to make sure it's about, 'Where were you at when you started? Did you get better?' That's going to be my meetings after the season is over. It's part of Minor League Baseball."
Back in Lancaster after a hectic offseason that landed him an opportunity to grow professionally and manage the home team, Vazquez is set for a new whirlwind that starts Thursday.
He's got the support and belief from former players like Derek Fisher and A.J. Reed, who sent him congratulatory text messages after his promotion, and more importantly: the JetHawks.
"It couldn't work out any better for me," Vazquez said.
April 6, 2016
LANCASTER - Ramon Vazquez's offseason was a whirlwind.
After a week off following the JetHawks' elimination in the Cal League South Division Mini-Series against High Desert in September, Vazquez managed in instructional league for two weeks, came back to California for seven days and then flew out to Puerto Rico to be a coach in winter ball.
After that ended in early February, the former JetHawks player took off for spring training, which officially ended on Sunday.
"I haven't had much time off," Vazquez said on Tuesday during JetHawks' media day. "That was the whole offseason for me."
Somewhere under the tropical clouds of his native Puerto Rico, however, the mayhem offered him a moment he did not see coming just yet.
Named a JetHawks Hall of Famer last season, the 39-year-old Vazquez became the manager of the club he played for 18 years ago, replacing first-year manager Omar Lopez.
"Things are going faster than I thought, but this is definitely something I wanted to do," said Vazquez, who served as the JetHawks' infield coach last season. "I would say everything is catching up real quick. I wasn't expecting to be here this fast."
In search of a promotion that fit his resume, Vazquez was offered the Class A-Advanced job after he became the interim manager of his struggling winter league team, the "Santurce Cangrejeros," and took them all the way to a championship.
For Vazquez, whose wife Griselda is a former JetHawks cheerleader, it was a surreal step up in the Houston Astros' organization.
"I was definitely expecting to be here at some point, at some league, a different organization or whatever team," Vazquez said. "But this was my plan the whole time and I'm just happy that it's happening pretty fast."
Vazquez played 121 games in Lancaster in the JetHawks' third season, in 1998. He reached the major leagues in 2001 with the Mariners and played for six different organizations in nine big-league seasons.
For the hall of famer to become the JetHawks' skipper, Lopez was asked to move back to Quad Cities to take over the River Bandits (Class A), a team he managed in 2014, and 2015 Bandits manager Josh Bonifay was sent to Greeneville (Rookie level).
The shuffling only spoke volumes of how much the Astros wanted Vazquez in charge in Lancaster in 2016.
"He knows the game inside out and picks up on a lot of tendencies from hitters and pitchers, so he feeds us a lot of information to help us become the best baseball players that we can be," said JetHawks infielder Marc Wik, who was coached by Vazquez for the entire 2015 season.
Vazquez, who is joined by eighth-year hitting coach Darryl Robinson and new pitching coach Mike Burns, inherits a team with seven players who finished 2015 in Lancaster and that doesn't have quite as many big names as the JetHawks of last season did to start the year.
Right-handed pitcher Akeem Bostick, who will start the season opener on Thursday in San Jose, is ranked 29th overall in the Astros' prospect watch by MLBPipeline.com and right-handed reliever Riley Ferrell is ranked 20th.
They, along with 25 other JetHawks, are in Lancaster to make a name for themselves and move up in the minor league system, just like Vazquez did.
"Like you said, it's not much about winning here," Vazquez said. "We're just trying to get them better to get them the hell out of here, so the quicker they get better, the quicker they move.
"It's how you teach. At times you can't think much about winning. You got to make sure it's about, 'Where were you at when you started? Did you get better?' That's going to be my meetings after the season is over. It's part of Minor League Baseball."
Back in Lancaster after a hectic offseason that landed him an opportunity to grow professionally and manage the home team, Vazquez is set for a new whirlwind that starts Thursday.
He's got the support and belief from former players like Derek Fisher and A.J. Reed, who sent him congratulatory text messages after his promotion, and more importantly: the JetHawks.
"It couldn't work out any better for me," Vazquez said.